Many people are fearful when using social media networks like LinkedIn for business, concerned that they may make a mistake or do something wrong. Has your fear of making mistakes on LinkedIn prevented you from taking full advantage of all that this business social network has to offer? Each day, I see people make mistakes on LinkedIn that not only wastes their time but damages their credibility. To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, it is essential that you understand and carefully utilize proper LinkedIn etiquette and best practices. Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them. ~Bill Kelly In this article, you will discover very important Do’s and Don’ts of LinkedIn etiquette and the mistakes you absolutely must avoid making. LinkedIn Etiquette: The Official Infographic Scroll down below for the complete article Feel free to share this infographic LinkedIn Etiquette: 10 Things You Must Do 1. Personalize Connection Requests The first and most important tip I can share with you is to personalize each and every connection request that you send out. People are far more likely to accept your request if you either remind them of how they know you […]

Do you struggle with using LinkedIn for business lead generation? Have you wondered how you can expand your network in a way that complies with LinkedIn’s rules while meeting your business goals at the same time? You don’t have to spend much time to figure out that I’m a huge proponent of LinkedIn business networking but I still get so many people reaching out to me who are confused and ask questions like: How can I connect less with random people I don’t care about and more with potential prospects? How can I get new connections more interested in me when I connect with them? Who are these LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers) and should I be one? How am I supposed to meet new prospects when LinkedIn constantly tells me not to connect with strangers? (My personal favorite) If you have ever found yourself asking any of those questions, read on. By the time you are done reading this article you shouldn’t have any more confusion over how you should be using LinkedIn for business when it comes to connecting with new people. A Rule That Is Meant To Be Broken Before I really get started, I feel like I […]

Yesterday I woke up to a flurry of emails and text messages of people telling me that I was on the front page of the Kelowna Daily Courier newspaper and also had a large article consuming page 1 of the business section about my recent LinkedIn training seminar held at the Ramada Hotel in Kelowna. During a full day live LinkedIn training I had room full of business owners, entrepreneurs, sales people and professionals working on their LinkedIn profiles. The objective of this workshop was not for me to stand at the front of the room and just teach all day, but more to lead this group of savvy professionals through how to create a professional LinkedIn profile that gets results, and implement it before the end of the day. It was such a wonderful group of people from all across the Okanagan Valley, and some even making the 4 hour drive in from Vancouver to attend this one-of-a-kind LinkedIn training. The audience was represented well by the local media (Kelowna Capital News, Kelowna Daily Courier, Astral Media) with sales professionals, business columnists and even VP of Sales and Marketing from the local media in attendance as participants. Also in […]

Are you using LinkedIn to grow your business? Or have you been thinking of using it but haven’t got around to it yet? LinkedIn is essential for all B2B businesses but can also be very effective for B2C businesses. Currently 97% of the people using LinkedIn are using it wrong…the other 3% are getting amazing results and are increasing their visibility, credibility and growing their business faster than they ever could before. Why You Need a Great LinkedIn Profile Right Now 1. Your Prospects Are Already Looking Up Your Name. LinkedIn is one of the top ranked sites in Google so when your clients Google you (and they will), one of the VERY first things that comes up, is your LinkedIn profile. This one point alone essentially makes your LinkedIn profile more important than your website. 2. Your Profile Needs SEO Just Like Your Website. Your profile needs to be optimized for the keywords you want to be found for. When someone searches on LinkedIn for what you do or offer, you can’t afford to have your competitors come up first! LinkedIn is extremely powerful for B2B but can also be very effective for B2C with the right strategy. 3. […]

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“Melonie provided our sales force with a three-part training series on Linkedin and how to best leverage the platform in their selling process. Melonie spent several months researching our business, getting to know our Sales Management team and asking lots of questions in order to tailor the training specifically to our needs. She is extremely knowledgeable, results-oriented, quick to respond to questions we had throughout the process and overall a pleasure to work with. We knew we had to explore the world of social media and Linkedin seemed like the right place to start. After our first meeting with Melonie, we knew she’d be a great fit. The training she provided our team will open a whole new avenue to prospect and generate new business, connect with existing clients, and other professionals in our industry. I would highly recommend her services to other business professionals.”

—Erin Peikoff, Winnipeg, MB, Sales Trainer, National Leasing (Member of Canadian Western Bank Group of Companies)

“We knew we needed to incorporate social media into our overall marketing plan, but didn’t know where to start. Our advisor recommended Top Dog Social Media – and it was a great decision. First, Melonie and her team spent time learning about our business, target market and our goals and objectives. From there they created a social media strategic plan to help us achieve the next step of success in our business. This strategic plan is now our blueprint for all our online efforts. Without it, we’d still be floundering online. Now we work on the important things and delegate the rest.”

—Daniele & Jason Herbert, Kelowna, British Columbia

“I highly recommend Melonie Dodaro as a social media consultant. She is a very bright and articulate person with a great vision for increasing your individual and corporate brand. If you are looking for someone that has a clear handle on why businesses need to develop valuable content, and how they can spread those ideas through social media, Melonie will help you get the job done. She is a true professional and a master of her expertise.”

—Nadia Alterio, Kelowna, BC, Founder, Smart Woman Marketing

“Melonie is simply awesome! She was able to pull information out of me and use that information to create the single best LinkedIn profile I have ever seen. I am certain with the way that she has created my LinkedIn profile that I will get an immediate increase of new clients. In addition, Melonie has a fantastic series of training sessions that cover LinkedIn usage and how to maximize your number of connections. Thank you so much Melonie for making my profile so professional and for the follow up with me to make certain that I was happy with all that you had created for me! You are awesome to work with and I would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone and everyone that is looking to increase their business.”

—Micha Dearen, Houston, Texas, Recruiter, Action Executive Search

“I have been very fortunate to have Melonie as a guest on my podcast and I recently picked up her new Linkedin training course. Within days of implementing her recommendations I’ve had people reach out to me about the work I do, and even managed to get the attention of recruiters for potential dream jobs. Her Linkedin training course is one of the smartest investments I’ve made and I’d recommend it to anybody who wants to get more out of Linkedin.”

“I connected with Melonie at a function a few months ago. I was interested in learning about using LinkedIn and after reading her profile, I gave her a call. I knew that I had the right person to hire. After just finishing my training sessions with her, I can tell you that she is an expert in social media, is extremely passionate about her work and does a great job teaching and preparing you to use social media as a business tool. I believe that social media is important for business and Melonie truly knows all the ‘hands on’ tactical ways to use it efficiently, professionally with great results. I’m happy to refer her to anybody except competitors!”

—Robert Oleksyn, Kelowna, BC, Financial Advisor, BMO Private Banking

“Thank you for providing the Insanely Profitable Social Media course. I give it 5+ stars on a scale of 1-5. You made it simple and easy to understand and helped me create a social media strategy to make my business profitable. You were really generous with the amount of information you shared and never hesitated to go way beyond what you promised in the course outline. The course was just what I needed to understand and help me start mastering social media and have the confidence to apply what I learned to my business strategically. I look forward to other courses you may be offering. I recommend this course to all no matter what level of understanding they have with their social media they will always learn something new with your course.”

—Connie Mason, Chicago Illinois

“Melonie and her team at Top Dog Social Media really understand the in’s and out’s and the why’s and how’s of social media, to the degree that I haven’t seen in any other social media experts. The best thing about Melonie is that she has a deep understanding of the psychology of marketing, in addition to social media, which makes her truly unique. She worked with my staff to develop my social media profiles and I was truly impressed with her attention to detail, her professional service and integrity. I highly recommend Melonie and her social media marketing services.”

—Les Brown, Los Angeles, California, Professional Speaker & Author

“I attended Melonie’s Linked In seminar and I could not believe the results! It was a hands on workshop and I was optimizing my profile as we went along. Before I even left the seminar I was already coming up as the first search result out of 130,000 other people! Not only that but by lunchtime I had been emailed by someone who found me in a search for my industry with keywords I had just added! Amazing value, information and results! If you are a B2B professional you MUST attend!”

“Melonie is a marketing genius in both social media marketing and traditional marketing. As an entrepreneur herself she really understands how to help her clients create massive visibility and grow their businesses. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Melonie and her team at Top Dog Social Media if you are looking for a solution to build your business!”

“Out of darkness comes a bright light. To a novice in social media and how it can assist me in my business, Melonie (the bright light) brought a plan of action to enlighten both me and my potential clients. Creating a more defined me to present to the public, Melonie showed me the who, what, where, when and why of social media. Experience and communication skills are the tools used by Melonie to help the uninitiated become a force. She herself is a force to be reckoned with in this technological world. I highly recommend Melonie for anyone in any profession needing social media direction. I will be continuing to use Melonie and Top Dog Social Media in the future.”

—Randy Kroner, Miami, Florida, Forensic Accountant

“I connected with Melonie on Linkedin a couple of months ago. I was interested in learning about social media and after reading her profile, I gave her a call. After one initial conversation with Melonie, I knew that I had the right person to hire. After just finishing my training sessions with her, I can tell you that she is an expert in social media, is extremely passionate about her work and does a great job teaching and preparing you to use social media as a business tool. I believe that social media is important for business and Melonie truly knows all the tactical ways to use it efficiently, professionally with great results. She is also extremely personable, which was also a factor in working with her. I’m happy to refer her to anybody looking for this type of service.”

—Gary Weingarten, New York, NY, Sales Executive, Precor

“I have been in sales for over 30 years, set up and trained numerous sales teams and have worked with companies and businesses helping them to implement high conversion sales strategies. Melonie is the ONLY social media expert I know that FOCUSES on how to use social media as a part of a profitable sales strategy. She understands how to create the perfect balance between VALUE and then how to convert those relationships created through social media into paying customers for her clients. With Melonie’s help, I have been able to develop a professional and compelling presence on LinkedIn that continues to generate leads for my business. Whenever I have ANY question related to social media, there is only 1 place I go – straight to Melonie Dodaro at Top Dog Social Media!”

—Debbie White, Scottsdale, Arizona, Sales Trainer & Speaker

“It is rare to find someone who is good at looking at your social media at a strategic level and identifying where you’re missing out and how to do the right things that get you noticed. In fact, I know that there is almost no one who knows as much as Melonie does about driving traffic, managing your social media so that it does manage you. Helpful, has great training products and does what she says. You don’t need a tactician writing blogs for you. You need a system that gets results. That’s Melonie’s Top Dog Social Media!”

—Lorraine McGregor, Vancouver, British Columbia, Business Consultant

“As experienced in social media as I am, I loathed the idea of self promoting myself without expert perspective from an outside point of view. Obviously anything I wrote would be maybe too biased. So I hired Melonie from Top Dog Social Media to help put together a excellent LinkedIn profile that really stands out. I would happily recommend Melonie and Top Dog Social Media for anyone that needs expert and value for money advice on their social media presence.”

—Omar Todd, London, UK, Social Media Consultant

“Melonie delivers! I’m glad I asked Melonie to speak at The Big Social Summit in Las Vegas. As one of our keynote speakers, Melonie’s presentation gave the audience practical and crystal clear insights into using Linkedin. The entire audience was inspired and fully engaged. I highly recommend Melonie for any company looking to have a top-notch social media speaker at their event!”

—Lance Joe, San Francisco, California

“It is a joy to highly recommend Melonie Dodaro as the #1 LinkedIn and Social Media Expert I have ever met. Melonie has unbelievable understanding, expertise and deep experience of modern business social media solutions. Melonie is an insightful expert and the leader in Linkedin branding and business solutions. My Linkedin’s SEO results speak for themselves! Since using her approach I am now receiving over 25 searches a day!”

—Rory Connolly, Ireland, Management Consultant

“Melonie Dodaro from Top Dog Social Media is truly a brilliant social media marketing expert. Melonie has helped me grow a large presence on Twitter and LinkedIn and has helped me get #1 positioning on Google with my blog. I’m also #1 on LinkedIn searches for my desired keywords and people are consistently telling me how impressed they are with my social media presence. But as an accountant it comes down to the bottom line, and yes these efforts are bringing me more clients, increased credibility and even speaking engagements. I couldn’t have done any of this without Melonie’s help. I highly recommend her services for those of you who are looking to take your social media presence to the next level.”

—Ken Davison, Kelowna, British Columbia, Accountant, BDO Canada

“Melonie Dodaro is a knowledgeable and gifted social media trainer. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her present and train in various environments and am blown away by her ability to break down even the most complex of topics, and teach in bite size nuggets in a manner that has light bulbs popping from the entire audience! It’s one thing for audience members to get insights from the presenter; it’s a whole other thing for the audience to get practical how-to’s that they can immediately apply – that’s exactly what Melonie provides, especially around LinkedIn. I have no hesitation in recommending her for speaking and training opportunities.”

—Mari Smith, San Diego, California, Social Media Speaker

Social Media Marketing

You’ve probably heard all the reasons your business needs social media. Now maybe you are wondering what and how to do it. There is an art to profiting from social media marketing, let us help you!

LinkedIn is #1 business network and an absolute must if you are an entrepreneur, professional or sales person. It is packed full of ideal clients for you and your business. Are you maximizing this powerhouse site?